So MANY great things happened for the Ducks last night. 5 assists from Ryan Getzlaf! AWESOME. Hat trick from Teemu Selanne, BEAUTIFUL (not to mention kind of eerie…I’ll get into that later)! Francois Beauchemin’s OT swat…FABULOUS! Hits galore! (Too many shots against as I’ve mentioned before and too many penalties…but hey…there was just SO MUCH MORE GOOD going on last night, we’ll ignore those this time).
First of all, I think it might be okay to make this statement, the Ducks played hard, very hard last night. 60 minuets hard? Just about. Unfortunately a slight bit of slack in their play could have cost them the game when they let a last minuet goal get by with 1:23 left in the 3rd. However, thanks to the great play during the first 58 minutes, the Ducks were able to climb out of that 3-1 hole they put themselves in to start with. More importantly, they were hitting A LOT…they were hitting HARD. It makes a difference. The Ducks have a checking line that can punish and when that punishement is handed out by everyone on the team, the Ducks get the results they want. WINS.
“You have to play every shift against them.”
Forward, Ryan Getzlaf LA Times
Hey Getz…(wait this is for everyone) HEY DUCKS…News FLASH…you have to play EVERY SHIFT against EVERY TEAM! Come on. Just think of what the Ducks could be doing to this league if they played EVERY TEAM as if they were a “Detroit”!
So yea…let’s talk Getzlaf for a second. I was really worried when he started this season struggling so much. Was it the teeth? EW, lets just disregard that for the pure gross out factor (you know what’s funny…we’re probably going to hear about this tooth/dentist/gums virus thing for the REST OF THE SEASON!!). No matter what the issue was…an assist on ALL 5 GOALS in this game shows EXACTLY what this guys brings to this team!!!! I know I’m not alone when I say this...it is WONDERFUL to see him playing the way he has since getting his first goal in Toronto. His no look pass to Selanne on the first PP goal of the night…a thing of beauty. He had a HUGE hit on Niklas Kronwall in the 3rd which led to a super feed from Corey Perry right to Brian Sutherby to put the Ducks up 4-3! I’m sure Finny loved that one!
Selanne…oh Selanne. Hat trick #21 and #12 as a Duck. Seeing Selanne do what Selanne does best…I have no words. I think it was interesting how all 3 off his goals looked almost identical. They all came from that same little sweet spot on the ice. I DID NOT think it was interesting how Detroit’s first 3 goals ALSO looked identical to one another. Jiggy didn’t either and he showed that frustration after the 3rd goal got by.
Bummer on the goal for Chris Pronger though. What a beauty of a NO goal. Honestly, I don’t really want to get into my thoughts on it because I’m really torn. Should it have been a penalty…well, that’s questionable (although if you saw the first period intermission interview with Selanne, you know he was EXTREMELY unhappy about it). Diving penalty? WHY NOT? No matter what, it was called off...but it could have meant the difference in the game. In fact, it meant the difference in going to OT in the first place. Had it been the other way around…you know Scotty pushed into Jiggy, we would have wanted it called off too. Hm, I guess I gave my thoughts on it anyway.
Most important goal of the night award goes to Francois Beauchemin in OT. Whew, I’m glad that call went the way it did. It was close and with the way calls go AGAINST the Ducks, I was sure it was going to be called no good. What a crazy way to end a game…
A couple of things that really bothered me though…
One, Brad May’s injury. I still haven’t seen anything regarding how he’s doing other than he will be getting an MRI today. It’s hard to see a guy who’s always happy, always smiling, (even after fisticuffs) looking the way he did skating off the ice. Fingers crossed he will be okay. I did catch this from the OC Register…
“I don’t think there’s a tear,” Carlyle said. “I think it’s more of a stretch orThat’s hopeful news.
a bruise.” OC Register
Another peeve. Damn octopus! I’m sorry, but this is CLEARLY a Detroit thing. Everyone knows…the NHL knows, the refs know. This should be a penalty TO THE RED WINGS no matter who’s at home or where they are playing. It’s ridiculous! It happens everywhere and so often DURING PLAYS!!!!! Come on…lets get with the program here…it’s DISGUSTING!
Anyway…phew…I just wanted to say that.
I know there is more to say about this game…it was all just so overwhelming. I’m sure I’ve left something out…if there is something I’ve missed or something else you’d love to talk about…email me anytime Ducks11eleven
WOW! Look what going 4-0 on a team building road trip does for a team! Welcome home boys!
Vancouver on Friday…anyone have a guess on how excited Finny will be to see O’B? haha.
Anyway, something more on them later…let’s not get me started on Luongo!
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